Entries By hannah blum

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 - 5:49 pm PT

We left La Paz in the wee hours of the morning, navigating the maze of city streets to the highway leading to Huayna Potosi. As we neared the base of Huayna we could see headlamps high on the summit ridge, an exciting preview of what's to come. The sun was just beginning to rise as we turned north on a road that seemed improbable at best in a passenger van, but our driver navigated with ease and precision while we took in breathtaking early morning views of the west face of Huayna. After creating a 16000+' pass the "road" dropped down towards the Condoriri valley, and we hopped out of the van to stretch our legs for the final few miles to the Rinconada trailhead. We set up camp in the meadow surrounded by grazing llamas and alpacas. After lunch the rest of the afternoon was spent napping and organizing gear into loads for the mules that will help us move up to Condoriri base camp tomorrow. It's great to be out of the hustle and bustle of the city and under the spectacular Milky Way sky.

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Monday, May 18, 2026 - 6:13 pm PT

Yesterday took the team to several unique sights around the south end of La Paz, all while breathing the thin air and preparing our bodies for the high peaks that lie ahead. First up was Valle de la Luna, a bizarre collection of rain-eroded rock towers in the middle of the suburbs not far from our hotel. From there we drove uphill a few minutes before hiking to Muela del Diablo, a striking rock tower overlooking the city. After taking some time to enjoy the views it was on to a longer hike to a stunning viewpoint a little above 13000', where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and made a traditional Bolivian offering to honor the mountains we came here to climb. Yesterday in the Witch's Market we acquired an offering pallet of sorts, made up of various chalk and sugar pieces each inscribed with imagery asking for blessings of various parts of our travels, topped with a generous helping of coca leaves. Javier, our local liaison and logistics coordinator, explained the significance of each part of the offering before setting fire to it all on the mountain top where we found ourselves enjoying lunch, complete with great views of Huayna Potosi to the north and Illimani to the south. This important ritual complete, it was on to another short hike past more stunning columns of eroded conglomerate, these ones several hundreds of feet high!

Today we ventured a little higher with an acclimatization hike near Cerro Saturno on the northeastern edge of the city. It was a lunar-like landscape of near-black sand, loose shale and the occasional picturesque lagoon. We topped out at just over 16000', a new altitude record for some in the group! We returned to the hotel by mid-afternoon to organize and pack our gear for the coming week of climbing. After a leisurely few days of acclimatization, it is finally time to head to the big mountains! We're making an early start for Rinconada tomorrow, and will spend the next several days climbing in the Condoriri group. The team is feeling strong, psyched and ready to get up high! 

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Saturday, May 16, 2026 - 7:26 pm PT

Greetings from La Paz!

After many hours of travel over the last few days, the whole team assembled at Hotel Mitru Sur this morning for the official start of our trip. After a gear check and a delicious steak and seafood lunch we headed out to explore the city, making use of the teleferico (cable car) system that travels all over the cities of La Paz and El Alto.  This allowed us to see some sights and reach 13,000' without having to put in too much effort as we start to acclimatize to the high altitude we start at here in Bolivia.

We plan to spend the next two days based out of La Paz, with making day hikes to progressively higher altitudes to allow our bodies to begin adjusting before we head to the big mountains. I'm so excited to be here for the second time, and to share this beautiful country and stunning mountains with a new group.

Stay tuned for more in the coming days! 

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Sunday, May 10 11:19 AM PT

As we woke at 3:30am for our summit day, excited with our mostly sunny forecast, a wet cloud settled into camp and over the Squak glacier. Crowds of skiers passed us up into the white-out, but we decided to have another cup of coffee in our tents. The weather will do what it wants on Mt Baker it seems. 

And lucky for us, an hour later it decided to grant us a little clearing, and by an hour into our tour uphill, not a cloud in the sky. This added a lucky euphoria to the already stunning views of the North Cascades all the way to Mt Rainier. 

It was a solid refreeze overnight, and as we cramponned up a solidly frozen Roman Wall, the question of skiing this steep frozen mogul field weighed on everyone. But we had a wild card up our sleeves. 

After our triumphant photo session on Mt Baker’s summit, we clicked into skis and skied directly into the Barbeque Run, straight off the summit into the smoking crater of the volcano. It has a little more east exposure and a little volcanic activity, and was perfect soft carving! 

A short skin took us to the top of the Squak Glacier, and as we carved perfect shiny corn snow for the next 4000 vertical feet, the only reason to stop was to give the legs a little break. It doesn’t get much better than 20 minutes of perfect carving snow to camp. 

We packed up camp and were treated with a fun session of snow to forest floor to snow patch skiing which had everyone giggling like kids. Doesn’t get much better on Mt Baker!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch & Team

Saturday, May 2, 2026 - 9:41 pm PT

We awoke to a wonderful sunrise and some unsettled weather that brought some rain and clouds in the morning. After quick breakfast, we donned skins and packed our bags for a summit attempt of Mount Baker. As we skinned up the glacier, the winds began to die and the clouds parted at approximately 10am. By the time we summited the snow was soft, the skies were clear and the winds were minimal. We enjoyed 5,000’ of perfect skiing straight back to camp. Tomorrow we plan to descend and celebrate a great program back in Sedro.

RMI Guide Sam Marjerison

Friday, May 1, 2026

Today started bright and early at 7am in Sedro-Woolley, where we met the team, double checked our kits and made a few last minute stops for food before driving up to the trailhead. After an hour of walking through the woods, we reached the snowline and began skinning up to the Easton Glacier. Breaks along the way gave us views of Mount Shuksan, Glacier Peak and the Picket Range. After setting up camp we enjoyed a great sunset and dinner. Tomorrow, we plan to ski from the summit of Mount Baker before descending back to camp.

RMI Guides Casey Grom & Leif Bergstrom led their Five Day Climb teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Leif reported great conditions, not too hot and not too windy.  The teams will return to Camp Muir to rest and relax this afternoon.  They will spend their second night on the mountain tonight, and descend the remaining 4,500' to Paradise tomorrow.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

6:30 pm August 18th 

Around 12:30 today, our entire team stood on top of Mt. Shuksan. Today the weather was mostly cloudy, but we were rewarded with a break in the clouds on our descent. Tomorrow morning we will pack up camp and head into town to celebrate. Congrats to the team! 

RMI guide Sam Hoffman, Hannah Blum, and Brooks Ordway-Smith 

The Four Day Climbs August 10 - 13 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Jackson Breen. It's a beautiful day with clear skies and great views.  The teams enjoyed some time on top before starting their descent from the crater rim around 6:40 am.  Once they reach Camp Muir they will take a short break and then continue the final 4,500' to Paradise.

Nice work team!

The Four Day Climb August 2 - 5, 2025 led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Joe Crawford reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  The teams reported a beautiful day on the mountain with a little wind a little precipatation while they were on the summit. They enjoyed a bit of time in the crater before starting their descent.  The teams are heading back to Camp Muir, and after a quick break will continue the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise to complete their climb.  Once back at BaseCamp they will enjoy a bit of celebration to conclude their adventure.

Nice work today team!

PC: Dominic Cifelli

Today, the Four-Day Climb, led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Joe Crawford, successfully reached the summit of Mt. Rainier!

In a fun twist of trail magic, both groups were guided by not one, but two Joes, two Hannahs, and two Bens — in addition to Bailey and Simon, who helped keep things from getting too confusing! With this strong and experienced team at the helm, the climbers were in great hands every step of the way.

The teams pushed through some smokey conditions on their ascent and were rewarded with beautiful clear skies upon reaching the crater.  After soaking in the views from the top, the climbers began their descent to Camp Muir, where they’ll pack up before continuing the remaining 4,500’ down to Paradise this afternoon.

Congratulations to today’s climbers on an incredible accomplishment!